U.S. patent number 5,559,855 [Application Number 08/346,055] was granted by the patent office on 1996-09-24 for system and method for recognizing and routing telephone calls involving hearing or speech impaired persons.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Lucent Technologies Inc.. Invention is credited to Jac P. Dowens, Elvis Hernandez.
United States Patent |
5,559,855 |
Dowens , et al. |
September 24, 1996 |
System and method for recognizing and routing telephone calls
involving hearing or speech impaired persons
Abstract
A system and method are disclosed for recognizing and routing
telephone call activity involving a hearing or speech impaired
person. A caller places a local, intra-LATA, or inter-LATA
telephone call by adding a three digit prefix to a called party
number (CPN); the prefix identifies the call as one in need of
routing to an Operator Services for the Deaf (OSD) or
Tele-communications Relay Services (TRS) center. The call is first
routed to a switching network where a query is sent to a Universal
Subscriber Data Structure database using the caller's Automatic
Number Identification (ANI) and the CPN of the called party. The
database responds with the caller's and the called party's
profiles. Thereafter, the call is routed to an adjunct which
connects the call to an appropriate OSD or TRS center, whereupon
the conversation can be relayed between the hearing or speech
impaired person and the voice party. During this time, the adjunct
can monitor a call for a particular subscriber's feature
interaction, and can route the call to an appropriate switch in the
network based upon the feature invoked by that party. A second and
third database connected to the adjunct can verify feature
subscriptions and perform calling card validation,
respectively.
Inventors: |
Dowens; Jac P. (Red Bank,
NJ), Hernandez; Elvis (Union City, NJ) |
Assignee: |
Lucent Technologies Inc.
(Murray Hill, NJ)
|
Family
ID: |
23357739 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/346,055 |
Filed: |
November 29, 1994 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
379/52;
379/207.11; 379/207.14; 379/207.15 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M
3/42391 (20130101); H04M 3/51 (20130101); H04Q
3/0029 (20130101); H04M 3/42068 (20130101); H04M
3/4211 (20130101); H04M 7/00 (20130101); H04Q
2213/13515 (20130101); H04Q 2213/13541 (20130101); H04Q
2213/13545 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04M
3/50 (20060101); H04Q 3/00 (20060101); H04M
3/51 (20060101); H04M 3/42 (20060101); H04M
7/00 (20060101); H04M 011/00 (); H04M 003/42 () |
Field of
Search: |
;379/38,52,93,96,97,98,201,210,211,212,213,214,221 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Chan; Jason
Claims
We claim:
1. A system for recognizing and routing telephone call activity
involving a hearing or speech impaired person, comprising:
a switching network having one or more switches for mounting
telephone call activity, said telephone call activity having been
initiated by a caller dialing a three digit prefix together with a
called party number;
wherein said three digit prefix indicates that one of the parties
involved in said telephone call activity is hearing or speech
impaired;
the switching network coupled to an originating telephone call
location and a destination telephone call location;
a first database means coupled to the switching network for
analyzing origination and destination information associated with
the telephone call activity so as to retrieve a profile of the
hearing or speech impaired person involved in said telephone call
activity;
a signaling network coupling the switching network with the first
database means for transmitting the origination and destination
information from said switching network to said first database
means, and for transmitting said profile from said database means
to said switching network;
an adjunct coupled to the switching network for controlling routing
of the telephone call activity in the system;
a first interface for routing the telephone call activity,
including said profile, from the switching network to the adjunct
in response to the dialing of said three digit prefix by said
caller; and
a relay center operably connected to the adjunct for servicing said
telephone call activity when a hearing or speech impaired person is
involved.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the adjunct is either a Customer
Long Distance (CLD) adjunct or an Accessible Communications
Services (ACS) adjunct.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein the switching network further
comprises:
an originating switch coupled to a hand-off switch;
said hand-off switch coupled to the first database means and the
adjunct via the signaling network and the first interface
respectively.
4. The system of claim 2 wherein said first database means includes
means for analyzing origination information associated with said
telephone call activity to determine whether a call tear down
should be performed because of caller account delinquency.
5. The system of claim 2 further comprising:
a second interface for routing telephone call activity from the
adjunct to the switching network, wherein the adjunct routes the
telephone call activity to switches in the switching network via
the first or the second interface based on a telephone feature to
which the caller or a called party has subscribed.
6. The system of claim 5 wherein the adjunct is coupled to a second
database means via a signaling network for verifying whether the
caller or the called party has subscribed to said telephone
feature.
7. The system of claim 2 wherein the adjunct is coupled to a third
database means via a signaling network for performing calling card
validation.
8. The system of claim 2 wherein an X.25 query protocol between the
adjunct and the switching network is used to perform calling card
validation.
9. The system of claim 2 wherein said telephone call activity
involves an intra-LATA telephone call.
10. A system for recognizing and routing telephone call activity
involving a hearing or speech impaired person, comprising:
a switching network having one or more switches for routing
telephone call activity, said telephone call activity having been
initiated by a caller using "operator cut-through";
wherein said "operator cut-through" comprises a yoice caller
dialing "00" and verbally indicating that one of the parties
involved in said telephone call activity is hearing or speech
impaired, and a hearing or speech impaired caller dialing a called
party number plus a suffix to indicate same;
the switching network coupled to an originating telephone call
location and a destination telephone call location;
database means coupled to the switching network for analyzing
origination and destination information associated with the
telephone call activity so as to retrieve profiles of the caller
and called party;
a signaling network coupling the switching network with the
database means for transmitting the origination and the destination
information from said switching network to said database means, and
for transmitting said profiles from said database means to said
switching network;
an adjunct coupled to the switching network for controlling routing
of the telephone call activity in the system;
a first interface for routing the telephone call activity,
including said profiles, from the switching network to the adjunct
in response to the use of "Operator Cut-Through" by said caller;
and
a relay center operabl y connected to the adjunct for servicing the
telephone call activity when a hearing or speech impaired person is
involved.
11. The system of claim 10 wherein the adjunct is either a Customer
Long Distance (CLD) adjunct or an Accessible Communications
Services (ACS) adjunct.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein said database means includes
means for analyzing origination information associated with said
telephone call activity to determine whether a call tear down
should be performed because of caller account delinquency.
13. The system of claim 11 wherein the first interface provides
call processing and call recording for billing.
14. The system of claim 11 further comprising:
a second interface for routing telephone call activity from the
adjunct to the switching network, wherein the adjunct routes the
telephone call activity to switches in the switching network via
the first or the second interface based on a telephone feature to
which the caller or a called party has subscribed.
15. The system of claim 14 wherein the first and the second
interface provide call processing and call recording for
billing.
16. The system of claim 11 wherein an X.25 query protocol between
the adjunct and the switching network is used to perform calling
card validation.
17. A method for recognizing and routing a telephone call involving
a hearing or speech impaired person, comprising the steps of:
routing a telephone call from an originating telephone call
location over a switching network to a destination telephone call
location, said telephone call having been initiated by a caller
dialing a three digit prefix along with a called party number;
said three digit prefix indicating that one of the parties involved
in said telephone call is hearing or speech impaired;
transmitting origination and destination information from said
switching network to a first database means via a signaling
network;
said first database means analyzing the origination and the
destination information associated with the telephone call and
retrieving a profile of the hearing or speech impaired person
involved in said telephone call;
transmitting said profile from said first database means to said
switching network via said signaling network;
routing the telephone call from the switching network to an adjunct
via a first interface in response to the dialing of said three
digit prefix by said caller; and
the adjunct routing the telephone call to a center which relays
conversations between hearing or speech impaired persons and
persons whose hearing or speech is not impaired.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the adjunct is either a Customer
Long Distance (CLD) adjunct or an Accessible Communications
Services (ACS) adjunct.
19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of:
said first database means analyzing the origination information
associated with the telephone call to determine whether a call tear
down should be performed because of caller account delinquency.
20. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of:
the first interface processing and recording calls for billing.
21. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of:
the adjunct routing the telephone call from said center to switches
in the switching network via the first interface or a second
interface based on a telephone feature to which the caller or a
called party has subscribed.
22. The method of claim 21 further comprising the step of:
verifying via a second database means coupled to said adjunct
whether the caller or the called party has subscribed to said
feature.
23. The method of claim 18 wherein:
a third database means is coupled to the adjunct via said signaling
network; and further comprising the step of:
said third database means validating the caller's calling card
information.
24. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of:
validating calling card information via an X.25 query protocol
between the adjunct and the switching network.
25. The method of claim 16 wherein said telephone call is an
Intra-LATA telephone call.
26. A method for recognizing and routing a telephone call involving
a hearing or speech impaired person, comprising the steps of:
routing a telephone call initiated by a caller using "operator
cut-through" from an originating telephone call location over a
switching network to a destination telephone call location;
wherein said "operator cut-through" comprises a voice caller
dialing "00" and verbally identifying the telephone call as one
involving a hearing or speech impaired person, and a hearing or
speech impaired caller dialing a called party number plus a suffix
to identify same;
transmitting origination and destination information from said
switching network to a database means;
the database means analyzing the origination and the destination
information associated with the telephone call and retrieving
profiles of the caller and called party;
transmitting said profiles from said database means to said
switching network;
routing the telephone call from the switching network to an adjunct
via a first interface in response to said profiles indicating that
one of the parties involved in said telephone call is hearing or
speech impaired; and
the adjunct routing the telephone call to a center which relays
conversations between hearing or speech impaired persons and
persons whose hearing or speech is not impaired.
27. The method of claim 26 wherein the adjunct is either a Customer
Long Distance (CLD) adjunct or an Accessible Communications
Services (ACS) adjunct.
28. The method of claim 27 further comprising the step of:
the database means analyzing the origination information associated
with the telephone call to determine whether a call tear down
should be performed because of caller account delinquency.
29. The method of claim 27 wherein the first interface provides
call processing and call recording for billing.
30. The method of claim 27 further comprising the step of:
the adjunct routing the telephone call from said center to switches
in the switching network via the first interface or a second
interface based on a telephone feature to which the caller or a
called party has subscribed.
31. The method of claim 30 wherein the first and the second
interface provide call processing and call recording for
billing.
32. The method of claim 27 further comprising the step of:
validating calling card information via an X.25 query protocol.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to systems and methods for automatically
recognizing and routing telephone calls involving hearing or speech
impaired persons, and for performing these functions within a
switching network capable of handling local, intra-LATA, and
inter-LATA calls. Two co-pending U.S. patent applications (Ser.
Nos. 08/346,106 and 08/346,056 are being filed concurrently
herewith.
BACKGROUND
Hearing and speech impaired customers are currently provided with
telephone service through AT&T Operator Services for the Deaf
(OSD) and AT&T Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS), which
are only accessible by dialing an "800" number. To access either of
these services, the caller must first dial the 800 number of the
service center before dialing the forward number of the called
party. In addition to being cumbersome, this additional operation
requires that the calling party know in advance whether the called
party is hearing or speech impaired. Thus, the current architecture
fails to provide hearing or speech impaired persons with
transparent telephone service.
An OSD or TRS center services telephone calls involving persons who
are hearing or speech impaired and persons not so impaired by
relaying conversations between the parties. The first leg of such a
call consists of the caller dialing the 800 number of an OSD or TRS
center and providing the center with the called party number. The
operator at the center completes the second leg of the call by
dialing the number so provided.
For inter-LATA calls, the center operator must dial through a local
exchange carrier (LEC) to complete the second leg of the call. As a
result, the caller is not provided with direct access to the
inter-LATA network. This is because the calling party number
delivered to the network will be that of the OSD or TRS center,
rather than that of the caller. Thus, network features which depend
upon the caller's calling party number to function are currently
not available to either the caller or the called party.
.differential.Call Complete" is one example of an inter-LATA
network feature which a calling party can invoke and which depends
upon the calling party number. When a called party number is busy,
this feature allows a calling party to enter a series of digits
(e.g. #222) and then hang-up. The network will then attempt to
reach the called party every ten minutes for up to one hour. If the
called party number answers, the network calls the calling party
number and connects the parties. However, this feature cannot be
invoked for calls which require routing to an OSD or TRS center,
because in such instances the calling party number is not delivered
to the inter-LATA network.
"AT&T True Ties" is another example of an inter-LATA network
feature which requires that the switching network have access to
the calling party number, except that this feature is one to which
a called party can subscribe. This feature allows a subscriber to
always pay for calls received from a telephone whose number the
subscriber has previously designated. The called party may
designate up to five such telephone numbers. However, for calls
that require routing to an OSD or TRS center, the calling party
number is not delivered to the network, and thus the network will
not be able to ascertain whether that number is among those
previously designated by the called party subscriber. Accordingly,
the "AT&T True Ties" feature is not available to a party to
such a call.
In addition, although the current architecture supports the use of
calling cards by hearing or speech impaired persons, the OSD or TRS
operators must currently place a separate call, using a different
phone, to access (via the LEC) the card validation routines
contained in the inter-LATA network. This presents a heightened
opportunity for fraud since an unscrupulous operator may
selectively choose not to undertake this additional step when
relaying a call for a familiar calling party.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The aforementioned problems are solved and a technical advance is
achieved in the art by eliminating the need to dial an 800 number
to access the AT&T OSD or TRS centers, and by providing the
parties with a direct connection to an Inter-LATA switching
network.
In one embodiment of the invention, a local, intra-LATA, or
Inter-LATA party is called by prefixing three digits to the called
party number; where the prefix identifies the call as one in need
of routing to an OSD or TRS center.
In another embodiment of the invention, a long distance party is
called by dialing "00" or "+0+288+NPA+NXX+XXXX+a suffix"; where the
suffix identifies the call as one that requires routing to one of
the foregoing centers.
In either case, the architecture recognizes that the call will
require special routing without the cumbersomeness of having to
dial an 800 number followed by the telephone number of the called
party.
Moreover, because the present invention provides the caller with a
direct access to an inter-LATA network (i.e. by providing the OSD
or TRS centers with a means for establishing a forward connection
without having to first dial through an LEC), hearing and speech
impaired customers can receive basic network calling features which
until now were only available for calls between voice
customers.
In addition, the proposed method and architecture includes a means
for performing calling card validation which does not require
operator assistance, and thus minimizes the opportunity for
fraud.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of the
present invention in which the caller calls a long distance party
direct by using standard 1+ calling (i.e. 1+NPA+NXX+XXXX).
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a slightly modified version of the
embodiment shown in FIG. 1 wherein the adjunct is an Accessible
Communications Services (ACS) adjunct.
FIG. 3 is a further modified version of the embodiment shown in
FIG. 1 wherein the caller dials a called party number by adding a
three digit prefix to the number (e.g. 1+N11+NPA+NXX+XXXX).
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a slightly modified version of the
embodiment shown in FIG. 3 wherein the adjunct is an ACS
adjunct.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the invention in
which the caller calls a long distance party direct by using
standard 1+ calling.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a slightly modified version of the
embodiment shown in FIG. 5 wherein the adjunct is an ACS
adjunct.
FIG. 7 is a further modified version of the embodiment shown in
FIG. 5 wherein the caller dials a called party number by adding a
three digit prefix to the number.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a slightly modified version of the
embodiment shown in FIG. 7 wherein the adjunct is an ACS
adjunct.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of yet another modified version of the
embodiment shown in FIG. 5 wherein the caller places the long
distance call by using "Operator Cut Through".
FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a slightly modified version of the
embodiment shown in FIG. 9 wherein the adjunct is an ACS
Adjunct.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram of another modified version of the
embodiment shown in FIG. 5 wherein the decision to route the call
to the CLD adjunct is based on the existence of caller and called
party information stored in an ANI trigger table located in the
4ESS switch,
FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a slightly modified version of the
embodiment shown in FIG. 11 wherein the adjunct is an ACS
Adjunct.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numbers refer
to like parts, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the
invention for recognizing and routing telephone calls involving
hearing or speech impaired parties. The embodiment of FIG. 1 and
the embodiments which follow assume end-to-end SS7 connectivity for
transmitting out-of-band calling activity (e.g. the dialed long
distance number, caller and called party profiles, etc.) between
the originating and terminating local exchange carrier (LEC) end
offices (6, 8).
As shown in FIG. 1, the parties to a call (2, 4) access their
respective LEC end offices (6, 8) by using either Plain Old
Telephone Service (POTS), a telecommunications terminal (TT), or a
personal computer (PC). A hearing or speech impaired party would
use either a TT or a PC, whereas a voice party would typically use
POTS.
In this embodiment, caller 2 places a direct call to the long
distance party 4 by using standard 1+ calling. It is assumed that
AT&T is the long distance carrier, although carrier selection
may differ depending upon calling party presubscription or upon the
existence of a contract between the carrier and the state from
which the call is being placed. The call then passes through the
caller's LEC (6) into a 4ESS originating AT&T switch (OAS)
(10). The OAS 10 routes the call to an appropriate 4ESS hand-off
AT&T switch (HAS) (15) based upon digit translations.
The HAS 15 sends the caller's ANI in a query to a Network Access
Interrupt (NAI) database (40) via an SS7 network (35). If the
caller is identified as one that has habitually failed to pay his
phone bills, a call tear-down can be performed.
The HAS 15 also sends the ANI and the DLN in a query to a Universal
Subscriber Data Structure (USDS) database (40) via the SS7 network
35 so as to acquire the caller's 2 and the called party's 4
profiles. The caller's 2 profile contains, among other things, the
caller's telephone number, an indicator that the caller is hearing
or speech impaired, and indicators of any features to which the
caller 2 subscribes (e.g. "Call Complete"). The called party's 4
profile contains similar information.
If both the caller 2 and the called party 4 are identified as being
hearing or speech impaired, the call is automatically connected. If
one party is hearing or speech impaired but the other party is not,
the call is routed through a Primary Rate Interface (PRI) (45) to a
Customer Long Distance (CLD) adjunct (50). This is accomplished by
the HAS 15 which formulates a Q.931 SETUP message and sends it to
the adjunct 50 through the D-channel of the PRI (45). The adjunct
50 is an "on-the-network" platform comprising a Digital Equipment
VAX computer adapted to process both voice and out-of-band signals.
The message includes the DLN and the caller's 2 and the called
party's 4 profiles. The adjunct 50 can then request the HAS 15 to
establish a voice connection between the caller 2 and the adjunct
50 via the B-channel of the PRI (45). Note that a voice connection
is required even in cases where the caller 2 is hearing or speech
impaired since the TT or PC generated signals sent to the adjunct
50 are in-band signals.
For calls placed using a calling card, the adjunct 50 can obtain
card validation by sending calling card information in a query to a
Customer Account Service Network Control Point (CAS NCP) database
(70) via an SS7 network (36).
The adjunct 50 is connected to one or more AT&T OSD or TRS
centers (65) via fractional T1 trunks (54). The adjunct 50 connects
to a particular center 65 based upon the ANI of the hearing or
speech impaired party involved in the call. Each center 65 is
staffed by operators (60) whose terminals are connected to the
fractional T1 trunks 54 via the Local Area Network (LAN) 55.
The operator 60 handling the call dials the DLN received from the
adjunct 50, and the adjunct 50 requests the HAS 15 to establish a
voice path and a path for out-of-band signals between the called
party 4 and the adjunct (50) via the B-channel and the D-channel
channel of the PRI (45), respectively. Once the forward connection
has been established, the adjunct 50 can route the calling activity
over the switching network 30.
The calling activity includes the operator 60 relaying the
conversation between the hearing or speech impaired and voice
parties (2, 4). For example, if a hearing or speech impaired party
places a call using a telecommunications terminal (TT), text typed
by the TT party would be transferred over the LAN 55 for display on
the operator's (60) terminal. The operator 60 would then read the
text to the connected voice party. When the transaction ends, the
voice party speaks his response which the operator 60 hears. The
operator 60 types what is heard and the text is sent to the TT
party who reads it on his terminal. This process alternates until
the conversation is completed.
The adjunct 50 continuously monitors for per-call feature
interaction by the parties (2, 4). Either partly may invoke a
feature (e.g. "Call Complete" or "AT&T True Ties") to which it
subscribes.
The method used to invoke a feature depends largely upon whether
the invoking party (2, 4) uses POTS, a TT, or a PC. A POTS user can
use Dual-Tone Multifrequency (DTMF) signaling to invoke a feature.
A TT or PC user can use some other adjunct to TT (or PC) mechanism
to do the same. Alternatively, the operator 60 can invoke a feature
on either party's (2, 4) behalf.
Although the profiles of the parties sent to the adjunct 50 contain
feature indicators which can be used by the adjunct 50 to verify
feature subscriptions, the adjunct 50 can alternatively verify
subscriptions by sending ANI and DLN information in a query to a
Customer Database (75) via an SS7 network 36.
Moreover, since certain features are "switch dependant," the
adjunct 50 can route the calling activity through a PRI (45, 46) to
either the 4ESS switch 15 or the 5ESS switch (25) based upon the
feature invoked by the parties. Both the PRI 45 and the adjunct 50
provide call processing and recording capabilities for billing.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a slightly modified embodiment of the
invention. This embodiment is identical to the system disclosed in
the embodiment of FIG. 1 except that here the adjunct 52 is an
Accessible Communications Services (ACS) adjunct 52.
The ACS adjunct 52 is an "on-the-network" platform comprising a
Definity G3 Private Branch Exchange (PBX) and a LAN connecting the
OSD or TRS operator terminals to the PBX. Although typically
located at each center 65, the adjunct 52 may be situated (as shown
if FIG. 2) at a location remote from the center 65, thus permitting
a plurality of centers 65 to share a single adjunct 52. This
requires that each OSD or TRS center 65 be equipped with its own
LAN 55 to connect to the adjunct 52 via the trunks 54.
FIG. 3 is yet another modified version of the invention. This
embodiment is built on the same architecture as that shown in FIG.
1. However, in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the caller 2 accesses the
switching network 30 by prefixing three digits to a called party
number (CPN). The prefix "N11" is entered by a hearing or speech
impaired person when calling a voice party. Similarly, the prefix
"M11" is entered by a voice party when calling a hearing or speech
impaired person. In either case, there is only a three digit
difference in dialing between calls made to or by a hearing or
speech impaired person and calls made between persons not so
impaired.
One skilled in the art will recognize that three digit prefix
dialing applies to all call types; local and intra-LATA calls, in
addition to inter-LATA (i.e. long distance) calls. Therefore, this
access method permits hearing or speech impaired persons to enjoy
the many benefits of the architecture of the embodiment of FIG. 3
when placing or receiving calls of any type.
The caller's 2 local exchange carrier (LEC) end office 6 uses the
prefix to identify the call as one in which either the calling
party 2 or the called party 4 is hearing or speech impaired and
thus, one which requires routing to an OSD or TRS center. The LEC 6
selects an appropriate carrier (e.g. AT&T), and routes the CPN
along with the three digit prefix to the OAS 10. Of course, the LEC
6 may delete the prefix from the DLN as long as an equivalent
indicator (such as "ii" digits or an SS7 parameter) is sent to the
OAS 12.
For inter-LATA calls, the call flow for the embodiment of FIG. 3 is
otherwise identical to that of a call placed using standard 1+
calling in the embodiment of FIG. 1. Note that the ANI and the CPN
are sent in a query to the USDS database 40 even though the call
has already been identified as one in need of routing to an
AT&T OSD or TRS center 65. The database 40 is queried so that a
complete profile of the parties (2, 4) may be obtained.
For local and intra-LATA calls, because the caller 2 and the called
party 4 are connected to the same LEC (6), the call flow would be a
simplified version of that of the embodiment of FIG. 1. By way of
example, the call flow may merely encompass routing the call
through the LEC 6, the 4ESS OAS switch 10, the 4ESS HAS switch 15,
the PRI 45, the adjunct 50, and the relay center 65.
On all calls, the prefix is sent along with the CPN to the OSD or
TRS center 65 and can be used to verify that. "N11" calls are
terminated on a modem at the center 65 and that "M11" calls are
originated from a center 65 modem.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the invention.
This embodiment is identical to the system disclosed in FIG. 3
except that here the adjunct 52 is an ACS adjunct.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of yet another embodiment of the
invention, which utilizes essentially the same architecture as the
embodiment of FIG. 1.
In this embodiment, a call placed using standard 1+ calling passes
through the caller's LEC office 6 and into a 4ESS switch (12)
which, instead of performing a call handoff, sends the ANI and DLN
in a query directly to the NAI and USDS databases 40 via the SS7
network 35 to obtain the parties' (2, 4) profiles.
Call flow then proceeds as in the embodiment of FIG. 1. Thus, the
call can either be torn down, automatically connected, or routed to
a CLD adjunct (50) via a PRI (45), based on the profiles received
from the NAI and USDS databases.
The embodiment of FIG. 5 also provides a calling card validation
capability. However, unlike in the embodiment of FIG. 1, an X.25
query protocol (47) between the adjunct 50 and the 5ESS switch
provides this capability. Thus, the connection to the CAS NCP
database 70 (as shown in FIG. 1) is not employed.
The adjunct 50 is connected to one or more AT&T OSD and TRS
centers 65 via fractional T1 trunks 54. The adjunct 50 connects a
call to a particular center 65 based on the ANI of the hearing or
speech impaired party involved. The operator 60 at the designated
center 65 establishes a forward connection via the adjunct 50, and
the adjunct routes the calling activity over the switching network
30. The calling activity includes the operator 60 relaying the
conversation between the hearing or speech impaired party and the
voice party.
The adjunct 50 monitors for feature interaction by the parties (2,
4) and routes the calling activity through the PRI (45, 46) to
either the 4ESS switch 12 or the 5ESS switch 25 accordingly. Both
the adjunct 50 and the PRI (45, 46) provide call processing and
recording capabilities for billing. Although not shown in FIG. 5,
the adjunct 50 can also verify feature subscriptions as in the
embodiment of FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is another modified version of the invention. This
embodiment is identical to the embodiment of FIG. 8 except that
here the adjunct 52 is an ACS adjunct.
FIG. 7 is yet another modified version of the invention. This
embodiment is built on the same architecture as that shown in FIG.
5. However, in this embodiment, the caller 2 accesses the switching
network 30 by prefixing "N11" or "M11" to the called party number
(CPN). The advantages of "3 digit prefix" dialing and the function
performed by such dialing are identical to that discussed in
connection with the embodiment of FIG. 3.
In this embodiment, the LEG 6 routes the CPN along with the prefix
to a 4ESS switch 12 (which is comparable to the HAS 15 in FIG. 3).
For inter-LATA calls, the call flow is identical to the call flow
for the embodiment of FIG. 5. The USDS 40 database is queried, even
though the "3 digit dialing"has identified the call as one in need
of routing to an AT&T OSD or TRS center 65, so that a complete
profile of the parties (2, 4) may be obtained.
For local and intra-LATA calls, the caller 2 and the called party 4
are connected to the same LEG 6 and thus, the call flow for this
embodiment is a simplified version of the call flow of the
embodiment of FIG. 5. The call flow may merely consist of routing
the call through the LEG 6, the 4ESS switch 12, the PRI 4B, the
adjunct 50, and the relay center 6B.
On all calls, the prefix is sent along with the CPN to the OSD or
TRS center 65 and can be used to verify that "N11" calls are
terminated on a modem at the center 65 and that "M11" calls are
originated from a center 65 modem.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of another modified embodiment of the
invention. This embodiment is identical to the system disclosed in
FIGS. 7 except that here the adjunct 52 is an ACS adjunct 52.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the invention.
This embodiment is built on the same architecture as the embodiment
of FIG. 5, but with the following modifications.
In this embodiment, the caller 2 accesses the switching network 30
via "Operator Cut Through" by dialing "00" or
"1+0+288+NPA+NXX+XXXX+ a suffix", where: (1) "0+288" is an example
of a long distance carrier access code which can be entered by the
caller 2, and (2) the suffix identifies the call as one that
requires routing to an AT&T OSD or TRS center 65. A voice party
would typically dial "00" and verbally identify the call as
requiring routing to a relay center, while a hearing or speech
impaired person would dial the suffix extension to do the same.
Therefore, unlike in any of the foregoing embodiments, the caller
does not call the long distance party direct by using standard 1+
calling, or by adding a three digit prefix to t, he CPN, nor is the
call routed through the caller's LEC office 6.
In addition, access to the network 30 is via a 5ESS switch 25
rather than through a 4ESS switch 12, and it is the 5ESS switch 25
as opposed to the 4ESS switch 12 which sends the ANI and DLN in a
query to the NAI and USDS databases 40.
The ANI and DLN are sent in a query to the USDS database 40 so that
a complete profile of the parties can be obtained. Once the
profiles have been obtained, and if the query to the NAI database
40 does not result in a call teardown, the 5ESS switch 25 routes
the call to a CLD adjunct 50.
The function of the embodiment of FIG. 9 is otherwise identical to
that of the embodiment of FIG. 5. Thus, an X.25 query protocol 47
between the adjunct 50 and a 5ESS switch 25 is used to perform
calling card validation; the CLD adjunct 50 is connected to one or
more AT&T OSD or TRS centers via fractional T1 trunks 54; the
adjunct 50 connects the call to an appropriate center 65 based on
the ANI of the hearing or speech impaired party involved in the
call; the operator 60 at the center 65 establishes a forward
connection via the adjunct 50; the adjunct 50 routes the
conversation between the parties (2, 4) (as relayed by the operator
60) over the switching network 30; the adjunct 50 monitors for
feature interaction by the parties (2, 4) and routing is through
the PRI (45, 46) to the appropriate 5ESS switch 25 or 4ESS switch
12 based on the feature invoked; call processing and recording are
performed by both the adjunct 50 and the PRI (45, 46).
Although not shown in FIG. 9, the adjunct 50 can verify feature
subscriptions as in the embodiment of FIG. 1.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram of yet another modified embodiment of
the invention. This embodiment is identical to the embodiment of
FIG. 9 except that here the adjunct 52 is an ACS adjunct 52.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram of another modified version of the
embodiment in FIG. 5. For this embodiment, the decision to send the
call to the CLD adjunct 50 is based on the existence of the ANI or
DLN in an ANI Trigger Table; the Trigger Table is located in the
4ESS switch 14 connected to the caller's LEC office 6. The USDS
database 40 is nevertheless queried so that a complete profile of
the parties may be obtained.
The architecture and call flow of this embodiment are otherwise
identical to the architecture and call flow of the embodiment of
FIG. 5.
FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a modified version of the embodiment
of FIG. 11. Here the adjunct 52 is an ACS adjunct 52.
The many features and advantages of the present invention are
apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended
by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of
the invention which fall within the true spirit and scope of the
invention.
Furthermore, since numerous modifications and variations will
readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired that
the present invention be limited to the exact construction and
operation illustrated and described herein, and accordingly, all
suitable modifications and equivalents which may be resorted to are
intended to fall within the scope of the claims.
* * * * *